The present invention relates generally to electrified wall structures and particularly to wall structures including low voltage buses for powering low voltage light fixtures in a merchandising or office partitioning system.
In a retail environment it is common for merchandise to be displayed on a modular system of adjustable shelves and display racks. Typical display systems may include vertical members, often referred to as standards, which may be fixed to a wall or between the floor and ceiling. Display shelves or racks include brackets specifically designed to engage the standards at any one of a plurality of locations. Typically, this is accomplished via tongues and notches on the brackets mating with slots or holes in the face of the vertical standard. The shelves and racks may then be easily repositioned by disengaging the brackets from one location on a vertical standard and re-engaging the brackets at a different location.
Other typical display systems may include bookshelf type display cases. These types of display cases typically have a number of holes bored into opposing sides of the case. Pegs may be inserted into the holes to support shelves for displaying merchandise. Such displays may be easily rearranged by relocating the pegs to different sets of holes in the sides of the display case.
Another common display comprises a wall unit having a number of holes bored through its surface, similar to a peg board. Alternatively, the wall unit may have a number of pucks, or disks, spread out on its surface. Rods and pegs are inserted into the holes, or attached to the pucks, to support shelves, hangers, and other devices for the display of merchandise.
To attract customers it is important that a merchandise display be aesthetically pleasing so as to present the merchandise to a potential customer in a highly visible and attractive manner. In many retail establishments, the major source of lighting is wide area illumination provided by ceiling mounted light fixtures, supplemented with spot lighting for accent and highlighting of specific areas or merchandise. When non-illuminated shelving is used, shelves nearer the ceiling cast shadows which results in less than optimal lighting of merchandise on lower shelves. It is therefore desirable to provide a means of illuminating merchandise on lower shelving or racks of a display.
Prior art attempts to provide illuminated display systems have been less than satisfactory either because they are aesthetically displeasing or are cumbersome and inflexible. Early attempts at providing illuminated shelving were essentially ordinary light fixtures mounted to the underside of a display shelf. A conventional power cord was then run from the light fixture to an outlet. Preferably, the cord was strung under shelving, behind merchandise on display, or otherwise hidden from a customer""s view so that it would not detract from an otherwise pleasing display. For a system of fixed shelving, or shelving with a limited range of adjustment, the power cord may be hidden from view fairly successfully. However, when using vertically adjustable shelving, the power cord would typically droop or otherwise be exposed to view.
Previous systems have attempted to alleviate some of these difficulties by providing an outlet or power source that may be moved within a limited range so that it is located adjacent to a shelf containing a light fixture. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,720 discloses a bakery display case that provides vertically adjustable shelves having a light fixture mounted on the front. A plurality of electrical outlets are slidably mounted in a channel at the rear of the display area. The outlets may be relocated vertically within a limited range so that an outlet is juxtaposed adjacent to each shelf, to help minimize power cord exposure.
Alternatively, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,973,796 and 5,425,648, disclose vertical shelf standards including internal conductors. The conductors are housed within the standards in such a way that an ordinary shelf bracket would not contact the conductors. Specially designed couplers include spring wires or clips that contact the internal conductors when the coupler is inserted into the shelf standard. In a display unit according to either of these patents, an illuminated shelf may be inserted into and supported by a pair of shelf standards and a special electrical coupler cabled to a light fixture may be inserted into one of the shelf standards just below the shelf itself to help minimize cable exposure.
While the aforementioned patents solve the problem of providing power to shelf light fixtures, they involve the use of shelf standards and connectors that are electrically and mechanically complex and are therefore more costly to manufacture than conventional shelf standards, and are more susceptible to failure due to mechanical fatigue and wear. Furthermore, electrical connections to the internal conductors of the shelf standards are made by a separate, specially designed connector located adjacent to, but not integral with, a supporting bracket for an illuminated shelf, so the power cord is not entirely hidden from view.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a modular furniture and shelving system including illuminated shelving and other powered fixtures wherein electrical connections for energizing the illuminated shelves and other powered fixtures do not detract from the aesthetic appeal of the system.
It would also be desirable to provide a modular furniture and shelving system wherein the components thereof are electrically and mechanically simple in design and therefore relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
It would further be desirable to provide a modular furniture and shelving system employing low voltage to energize powered portions thereof so as to minimize the possibility of electrical shock and other electrical hazards.
In addition, it would be desirable to provide a modular furniture and shelving system in which power coupling between a vertical member and a powered fixture is integral to the fixture support brackets.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a modular furniture and shelving system including illuminated shelving and other powered fixtures wherein electrical connections for energizing the illuminated shelves and other powered fixtures do not detract from the aesthetic appeal of the system.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a modular furniture and shelving system wherein the components thereof are electrically and mechanically simple in design and therefore relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a modular furniture and shelving system employing low voltage to energize powered portions thereof so as to minimize the possibility of electrical shock and other electrical hazards.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a modular furniture and shelving system in which power coupling between a vertical member and a powered fixture is integral to the fixture supports.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are realized by providing a modular assembly including vertical members having an internal electrical conductor or bus. The conductors are coupled to a source of low voltage electrical power so that adjacent conductors are of opposite polarity. Shelves and light fixtures according to the invention use supports covered with an electrical insulator except at the end designed for mating with the vertical member. A light fixture or other electrical device is coupled between a pair of supports so that when the supports are inserted into a pair of adjacent vertical members the supports contact the internal conductors, thus providing power to the light fixture.